Iowa's prize recruit having second thoughts?

I would also encourage him to take any visit that he has an interest to take. I would want him to be sure of his final decision no matter what that decision might be...that said, Alabama is not the arm pit of the south, it is much further south than that...
 
JonDMiller said:
While I am not gonna go that far, it's definitely a different culture down there. Heck, you don't have to drive but eight hours from Iowa to experience a different culture and the south just isn't for everyone, even though there are parts of it that I really like a lot and some of the nicest people I have ever met live there.
Click to expand...

Eight hours? Try about 20 minutes.

Just go across the Missouri line to the Battle of Athens State Historic Site. It's west of Keokuk. We checked it out earlier this summer, and the goofball tour guide down there might as well be from Mississippi. He referred to the Confederates as "us" and "we."

Anyway, if you want to play in the League, the SEC improves your chances. SEC dominance evident in record-setting 2013 NFL draft - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

(EDIT: Crap. Didn't realize Stewart Mandel wrote that article. I'm trying my best to boycot him.)
 
You said:
Eight hours? Try about 20 minutes.

Just go across the Missouri line to the Battle of Athens State Historic Site. It's west of Keokuk. We checked it out earlier this summer, and the goofball tour guide down there might as well be from Mississippi. He referred to the Confederates as "us" and "we."

Anyway, if you want to play in the League, the SEC improves your chances. SEC dominance evident in record-setting 2013 NFL draft - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

(EDIT: Crap. Didn't realize Stewart Mandel wrote that article. I'm trying my best to boycot him.)
Click to expand...


Yeah, I didn't get that either even southern Missouri isn't 8 hours away.
 
It's a beautiful campus. He will get to play on a team that will make the playoffs at least 75% of the time. He will get to play in a conference that is increasingly looking like an Nfl farm team league.
And he might see a chain gang like I did when I was down there.
 
OLWPAORWWM said:
I don't understand this line of logic. How is visiting other schools "an opportunity"? That's like saying visiting a skin bar is "an opportunity" to cheat on your wife.
Click to expand...

Clearly. And analogies aren't your thing either.

This kid is trying to decide where to go to college, and likely prep for his career in the NFL. I'd say that's a pretty important decision for a 17 yr old that justifies plenty of looking around and information gathering.

Yes, he did say he was choosing IOWA, so he probably shouldn't have committed verbally if we was still keeping his recruitment open. True. But you can't blame the kid for giving a look at the best program in college football if they showed him interest. He hasn't signed a National Letter of Intent, so he's still legally uncommitted. (one hell of a long way from your "married guy at a strip club" analogy)
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
Clearly. And analogies aren't your thing either.

This kid is trying to decide where to go to college, and likely prep for his career in the NFL. I'd say that's a pretty important decision for a 17 yr old that justifies plenty of looking around and information gathering.

Yes, he did say he was choosing IOWA, so he probably shouldn't have committed verbally if we was still keeping his recruitment open. True. But you can't blame the kid for giving a look at the best program in college football if they showed him interest. He hasn't signed a National Letter of Intent, so he's still legally uncommitted. (one hell of a long way from your "married guy at a strip club" analogy)
Click to expand...
I can blame the kid for making a commitment and then deciding to look around. I have no problem with looking around, but don't commit one place and then maintain your commitment while looking around. I agree, it is a big decision, and he should have made all of his visits BEFORE he committed someplace. So maybe his name isn't on a piece of paper, so I'll give you a better analogy; It's like giving your girlfriend an engagement ring, and then telling her you're banging all of her friends just to make sure you're not going to miss anything when you're married.

I made a pretty big commitment when I was 17 years old that decided the course of my life, and once I gave my word, there was no backing out, so spare me the drama about what he's going through, because thousands of kids like me do it every year.
 
I remember people flipping out when Tim Dwight decided to take his visits to Stanford and South Carolina I could just imagine the meltdown on message boards if TD were being recruited today.


It wouldn't surprise me at all if he has already made up his mind and is just enjoying the process.....who doesn't like to get woo'd.

Being an Stanford alum opens a lot of doors why not kick the tires a little bit. Going to Bama means you will be playing for national championships, why not go down there and see if you could fit in with the culture.
 
Last edited:
OLWPAORWWM said:
I can blame the kid for making a commitment and then deciding to look around. I have no problem with looking around, but don't commit one place and then maintain your commitment while looking around. I agree, it is a big decision, and he should have made all of his visits BEFORE he committed someplace. So maybe his name isn't on a piece of paper, so I'll give you a better analogy; It's like giving your girlfriend an engagement ring, and then telling her you're banging all of her friends just to make sure you're not going to miss anything when you're married.

I made a pretty big commitment when I was 17 years old that decided the course of my life, and once I gave my word, there was no backing out, so spare me the drama about what he's going through, because thousands of kids like me do it every year.
Click to expand...

I thought this was standard operating procedure.
 
OLWPAORWWM said:
I can blame the kid for making a commitment and then deciding to look around. I have no problem with looking around, but don't commit one place and then maintain your commitment while looking around. I agree, it is a big decision, and he should have made all of his visits BEFORE he committed someplace. So maybe his name isn't on a piece of paper, so I'll give you a better analogy; It's like giving your girlfriend an engagement ring, and then telling her you're banging all of her friends just to make sure you're not going to miss anything when you're married.

I made a pretty big commitment when I was 17 years old that decided the course of my life, and once I gave my word, there was no backing out, so spare me the drama about what he's going through, because thousands of kids like me do it every year.
Click to expand...


i get your point. I guess I'm a bit torn between the importance of keeping a "commitment" (though you must admit it's a sliding scale in some ways) and understanding how important and tough this choice can be for a 17 yr old. Especially when you're a top recruit with so many people whispering in your ear.

Like you, I went through it too (though certainly not for D-1 football) I had a tough time choosing among several attractive scholarship offers. And my kid is going into her Sr year and sorting through some of the same stuff. So maybe I'm going soft.

All that having been said, I trust that Ross will still end up in Iowa City and he's just "taking his visits".
 
OLWPAORWWM said:
It's like giving your girlfriend an engagement ring, and then telling her you're banging all of her friends just to make sure you're not going to miss anything when you're married.
Click to expand...

Except we are the girlfriend, so what can ya do. Give him his ring back? Tell the highest rated recruit we've had in years that if he takes a visit we are pulling his offer?

You can blame him for whatever you want to, but at the end of the day when he comes home we'll be on our knees trying to convince him we are the best. We won't throw his ring at him, we will listen to him as he tells us what those other girls were like in bed and how we can improve.

It's the principle of least interest. RP can do what he wants, and we can suck it because we need him more than he needs us.
 
He would probably end up a back to a backup in Alabama, but it is worth a look for any prospective athlete. But it is a lot different than Iowa. For one the thing the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is far more intense than Iowa's little rivalry with Iowa State. Then there's the heat. Actually Tuscaloosa is west of Birmingham and just a few hours from the gulf coast. So the location is nice. But it's still Africa hot and every step outside is a sweaty adventure. If he really wants to leave home he'll bolt for Alabama. Or Stanford

Stanford has the academics, Alabama has to potential for a championship ring. Not that he'll get to start for either team. Iowa he can be a starter.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
He would probably end up a back to a backup in Alabama, but it is worth a look for any prospective athlete. But it is a lot different than Iowa. For one the thing the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is far more intense than Iowa's little rivalry with Iowa State. Then there's the heat. Actually Tuscaloosa is west of Birmingham and just a few hours from the gulf coast. So the location is nice. But it's still Africa hot and every step outside is a sweaty adventure. If he really wants to leave home he'll bolt for Alabama. Or Stanford

Stanford has the academics, Alabama has to potential for a championship ring. Not that he'll get to start for either team. Iowa he can be a starter.
Click to expand...

I think you're sorely mistaken regarding his ability to play at Alabama. Iowa has had lineman that would start anywhere in the country, and RP is arguably the most talented offense line recruit the Hawks have had a shot at since Ferentz got here. He might not start as soon at Alabama as he would at Iowa, but I'm pretty certain he would end up anchoring one side of their line by his junior year. Do you think Bulaga, Reiff, Gallery, or Yanda would have been on the bench at Alabama? I don't think so.

It would be nice to be able to play that card to help entice him to stay at Iowa, but if the young man is confident enough in his abilities then I'm pretty sure that angle will not matter.
 
Alabama is THE elite offer in college football. Sure ND, Florida, LSU, USC, Texas, etc.......are great opportunities, but if Bama comes calling, you need to take a serious look. Hopefully he sticks with the hawks, but you cant blame him if he ends up in Tuscaloosa.
 
HawkeyeDenis said:
He would probably end up a back to a backup in Alabama, but it is worth a look for any prospective athlete. But it is a lot different than Iowa. For one the thing the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is far more intense than Iowa's little rivalry with Iowa State. Then there's the heat. Actually Tuscaloosa is west of Birmingham and just a few hours from the gulf coast. So the location is nice. But it's still Africa hot and every step outside is a sweaty adventure. If he really wants to leave home he'll bolt for Alabama. Or Stanford

Stanford has the academics, Alabama has to potential for a championship ring. Not that he'll get to start for either team. Iowa he can be a starter.
Click to expand...

I think it's actually south of Birmingham FWIW.
 
OLWPAORWWM said:
I can blame the kid for making a commitment and then deciding to look around. I have no problem with looking around, but don't commit one place and then maintain your commitment while looking around. I agree, it is a big decision, and he should have made all of his visits BEFORE he committed someplace. So maybe his name isn't on a piece of paper, so I'll give you a better analogy; It's like giving your girlfriend an engagement ring, and then telling her you're banging all of her friends just to make sure you're not going to miss anything when you're married.

I made a pretty big commitment when I was 17 years old that decided the course of my life, and once I gave my word, there was no backing out, so spare me the drama about what he's going through, because thousands of kids like me do it every year.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but your post comes off extremely arrogant and condecending. People are different and everyones situation is different. If you look down upon "kids" who don't handle their situation how you think they should or like you did with whatever commitment you made at 17, then I feel truly bad for you as a person. Maybe I am reading into your post way too much but clearly you aren't happy with how Ross P. is handling his own business.
 
dave3912 said:
I'm sorry but your post comes off extremely arrogant and condecending. People are different and everyones situation is different. If you look down upon "kids" who don't handle their situation how you think they should or like you did with whatever commitment you made at 17, then I feel truly bad for you as a person. Maybe I am reading into your post way too much but clearly you aren't happy with how Ross P. is handling his own business.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing dave. I kinda got that impression in the "Will college football be around in 20 years" thread as well. Just because you joined the Navy when you were 17 doesn't mean you have a right to judge how RP is handling this situation. It's a completely different story. I joined the Army when I was 17 so I know how you feel. However, you knew damn well you couldn't change your mind after making that committment. Joining the military and choosing what college to play ball at are two different stories. A 17 year old can change his mind every couple of weeks. Everyone at that age has different maturity levels. You can't blame the kid for keeping his options open. If the Hawkeye program becomes a sinking ship this year, and he has offers from Stanford and Alabama on the table he would be pretty dumb in my opinion not to consider.
 
DP5555 said:
I was thinking the same thing dave. I kinda got that impression in the "Will college football be around in 20 years" thread as well. Just because you joined the Navy when you were 17 doesn't mean you have a right to judge how RP is handling this situation. It's a completely different story. I joined the Army when I was 17 so I know how you feel. However, you knew damn well you couldn't change your mind after making that committment. Joining the military and choosing what college to play ball at are two different stories. A 17 year old can change his mind every couple of weeks. Everyone at that age has different maturity levels. You can't blame the kid for keeping his options open. If the Hawkeye program becomes a sinking ship this year, and he has offers from Stanford and Alabama on the table he would be pretty dumb in my opinion not to consider.
Click to expand...

I think his point was "don't commit until you're ready" but it didnt come out that way. Besides, I think in Ross P.'s situation it is tough. Iowa, his childhood favorite is his first choice because of KF but knowing that if they tank again KF probably won't be around and he can go to a school (any school for a matter of fact). Iowa just needs to win and everything else will work out the way it is supposed too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top